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Manufactured Homes
How Dramatic Are Your Homes?
Aug 12th
As a Lifestylist®, I spend quite a lot of time touring homes in different cities looking for new ideas and trends. Last week I was in South Haven, MI meeting with a client and discovered a great store – Props – who’s slogan is: “Your Home is Your Stage… Add Some Drama”.
So many times the drama is missing from our homes, and the customer loses interest in the home before they finish their tour. Here are some inexpensive Lifestylist® Designed ideas that you can use to add some drama to your model homes.
Color Color can be a really easy way to wake up a home that has been sitting on your lot too long. Paint is one way, but you also do something as simple as changing out the pillows on your upholstery to give a room a new look. Artwork is also a very effective way to change the feel of a room and make it more memorable.
Emotion Do your homes pull at the potential buyer’s heartstrings or just leave them uninspired? Accessories and textures can add warmth and emotion to a home. One of my favorite staging tricks is setting the dining table and having it look like the new buyers are getting ready for a dinner party. Plates, napkins, and glassware can only cost a few dollars each but can give your home a festive feel that the buyers will remember.
Shake Things Up Have you ever noticed that by moving furniture around and changing out accessories you can make the room have a completely different feel? Freshening up your homes might not cost you a dime – it might take a little muscle.
These are only a few ideas that we would love to share with you. If you don’t have the time to work on your models yourself we would be happy to provide the services necessary to make your sales center more dramatic. The Home Idea Factory is All About You, and we would love to become your “go to” resource for all of your design needs.
Feel free to contact us to find out more about what we do at: info@lifestylist.com
New Book Being Published by mhmsm.com
Jul 12th
We found out today that Lifestylist® Design and articles by Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber are being featured in a new book – The Manufactured Housing Revolution. Published by mhmsm.com, this book will be full of great articles and information that you can use every day. We also got a mention on the back cover so we are very excited! To get your own copy, check out mhmsm.com today.
XTreme Model Home Challenge
Jun 9th
I love a challenge, but when I got a call this week from Champion Homes of Texas I may have gotten one that is even more than I can take on.
They are introducing their new XTREME Home Value Series, and they are so excited about it they didn’t want to wait for the normal time it takes to put together a home show to introduce it to their buyers – they decided since these are factory built homes and they could get them built in a week, they would have a home show in a week! This means putting together 4 furnished model homes with Xtremely tight budgets in 7 days.
Can Lifestylist Design Inc. get this done? Check back in a week or so and find out how we did!
Cavco Industries Awarded 2010 Manufacturer of the Year
May 21st
Congratulations are in order for Cavco Industries that was just named 2010 Manufacturer of the Year by the Manufactured Housing Institute. Cavco recently acquired Fleetwood Homes and I’m excited to see what the blending of these two great companies will mean for our industry.
I’ve had the pleasure to work with General Manager Craig 
Calkins and the team at Cavco Homes of Texas – they build an amazing home that is a great value. Their show houses and decors last year were Lifestylist Designed and I couldn’t be more proud of what we were able to accomplish.
If you haven’t taken a look at what Cavco and Fleetwood have to offer, now might be a great time to do so – I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Lifestylist Designed Home Debuts in Tulsa
May 10th
Our latest Lifestylist Designed Home debuted at the Great Southwest Home Show a few weeks ago and the response has been tremendous. The home was for Champion Homes of Texas, and it was a chance to show what the new Champion Homes is all about, and if you haven’t take a look you need to – great homes with great value and style.
Take a look at the article we wrote for MHMSM about the show to learn more about where the factory built housing market is heading.
MHI Congress 2010
Apr 11th
My bags are packed and I’m almost ready to go – tomorrow I’m off to Las Vegas to be a speaker at the 20th annual MHI Congress, and of course I made my reservations with the help of my Travelocity Gnome.
Held every year in Las Vegas, this convention brings together that biggest and brightest names in manufactured and modular housing. This year keynote speakers will be Jim Clayton – founder of Clayton Homes and Harold Gross of Market Research Answers so I know everyone that attends will leave with lots of great new information to grow their businesses with. I’m honored to to speaking in from if this group for the 7th year and I hope to be invited back for many years to come.
This year I’m speaking on how a Lifestylist approaches the fast paced world of Social Media. I bought my first domain name in the early 90′s and I’ve always been intrigued with this very cost effective way of doing marketing. Now I have expanded the Lifestylist Brand to include a presence on various blogs, Blogger, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare,Yelp and You Tube. Is it worth the time investment to manage and update all of these? Absolutely! One of my great new clients, American Custom Builders found me through my Lifestylist Blog so I feel investing the time in keeping up with Social Media pays dividends to my brand and my business.
If you happen to be in Las Vegas next week, come and join us at Caesar’s Palace. If you mention that you read this I’ll give you a copy of my new Do-it-Yourself Guide to Social Media and Networking. See you there!
Another Great Manufactured Housing Show in Tunica
Apr 2nd
What a busy Spring already! Houses to design, design centers to merchandise, and lots of great marketing ideas to talk about.
Last week I headed to Tunica, MS to attend the South Central Manufactured Housing Show which is held every year at Harrah’s Tunica. Considering the economy, the turnout was fantastic and it was fun to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in awhile. Let me tell you, the homes on display were not your grandma’s trailer – these homes compete in design and quality with any comparable site built home.
If you were not able to attend the show, MH Marketing Sales Management has my review in their virtual magazine and there is also a link to tell you where you can view the over 500 photos we took of these very exciting homes.
Please take a look and let us know what you think!
How Social Are You?
Mar 2nd
It’s hard to believe some days how quickly the world is changing. Am I just getting older or is technology changing the way we live and do business? Social media is changing the way we get our information and how our customers shop. If you don’t have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Blogger and Buzz you are missing out. If you think I’m writing in a strange foreign language when I talk about these it’s time to do some Google searches and find out what the buzz is all about!
Some of the greatest reasons to join in the conversation with these groups are that:
1. They are free!
2. Information is shared immediately – no lag time for what you want to share to be published.
3. These are great places to listen as well as share your thoughts.
How do you get started? Join us at MHI Congress April 13 – 15 when Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber will be sharing her experiences and resources with this marketing tool. We have also stared a Facebook group for PreFab Housing to help share between our community as well as get consumers excited about what we do. Please join us and help change the image of our community!
A Suite Retreat
Feb 26th
There are advantages to working with all forms of housing – I get to see the best of all worlds. There are things that site-built homes do well, there is the efficiency of factory built and modular gives you the best of all types of construction. With all of the changes going on in our industry I’m always looking for a company to refer people to, and today I had the chance to find out what Champion Homes of Texas is up to.
The first thing that impressed me is that when you call their office a real person picks up the phone. I hate the “for xyx dial 123″ answering systems -by the time I get through to someone I forgot why I called! They seem very in tune to customer service and these little touches can make all the difference.I went out to their Burleson Texas plant to see what was new, and I can’t give away all of the details but there are very exciting times ahead for Champion. They have great people in place that are going to take the company to the head of the class. Their customers love them, they understand and listen to their buyers and they have done some very innovative concepts, including the “Suite Retreat“. Everyone talks about doing a luxurious spa bath, but Champion is delivering it. With a fireplace, glass surround shower, and plantation shutters being included, this is a room that has the “wow” feature that customers are looking for. I got to merchandise a few homes with this retreat for Young’s Factory Built Homes and they are even more beautiful in person.
If you are looking for a new approach to modular housing, check out what Champion has to offer – you won’t be disappointed – tell them the Lifestylist sent you!
Building a Community
Feb 20th
As an industry we have done a remarkable job of designing a product that consumers need, but what I am seeing is most consumers don’t know we offer that product. The stereotypes of “trailers”, “mobile homes” and “sales lots” drive away many people who could really benefit from what we do. This includes everything from the most affordable housing to amazing estates we all would love to live in. There has always been a lot of talk about doing an image campaign (and the cost) but maybe this is an idea who’s time has come by taking a different approach.
I’ve never been very good at doing what everyone else does – that’s why I became a Lifestylist instead of a traditional designer or merchandiser. Consumers want more than just a decorated house – they want a home that reflects their lifestyle. This takes a little more time and research but it shouldn’t cost anymore – it might even cost less. I also really believe in spreading the word about the great things my clients are doing as well as talking about trends and ideas that can help everyone. I don’t charge my clients for this - I consider it a service and part of my cost of doing business. I also go to trade shows, events and do work in the site built industry so I can bring back more than “what we’ve always done” as an industry.
This week I got invited to a meeting of the Social Media Club of Dallas. In a few hours I met some amazing new people who I was able to share the message of factory built housing to and they shared with me the importance of social media. Social media by definition is the various online technology tools that enable people to communicate easily via the internet to share information and resources. Social media can include text, audio, video, images, podcasts, and other multimedia communications. These include Twitter, Facebook,YouTube, FourSquare and blogs. For $20 (which included dinner) I learned what to expect from these groups and how to make them work for myself and my clients. They shared case studies that had mind boggling results.
What really made an impression is how easy and cost effective it could be if the members of our community came together and started using social media to promote our industry. There would be minimal or no cost and think about what could happen if every person who benefits from being in our industry got on Facebook or Twitter and started telling the world what a great product we provide. Is this the ultimate answer to change our image? With technology changing as quickly as it does it might be the solution we have been looking for. At least we would be doing something and getting our community connected.
Tony Kovach has done an amazing job in a short period of time sharing the message and bringing the community together with his Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management site. It is always full of great information and he is always updating what is there and keeping the message current. And I think his idea of having a Virtual Louisville Show is right on trend. I attended most of our traditional shows for the past 8 years and the last two have been painful as far as attendance and sales. We designed some beautiful homes but it was like having a party and no one came. What a great opportunity for the factory built industry with a virtual show to take back our place in the market as an innovative, cost effective and green way to build. I know I’ll be attending this virtual show and will also be tweeting and blogging about it.
Let’s get this party started and get connected. You can find me at:
Twitter: @homeideafactory
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/LifestylistDesign/104907317529?ref=search&sid=1370651794.2078388608..1 (or search LifestylistDesign)
Blog: www.aboutmodularhousing.com
See you at the show!